DESCRIPTION: State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY-B) is currently in the second year of a two year Nil-l sponsored Bridges to the Baccalaureate grant (September 1998 - August 2000). The investigator and collaborators propose SUNY Upstate Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program (SUBBP) that for 2000-2003 will include five partner institutions and 20 new students per year (currently the program admits 15 students each year). The objectives they will seek to achieve are: 1) identify the appropriate URM students in their first year at the community college; 2) Support the students in their science courses at the community college; 3) Provide a hands-on research experience in the university setting for these students; and 4) Support these students when they transfer to SUNY-B to pursue the baccalaureate. These objectives will be met through a series of program events coordinated jointly by SUNY-B and the community colleges. First, there will be visits by the program directors to the community college campuses during which the directors explain the program, discuss their research and address the relevance of science courses to a career in biomedical research. Second, there will be a two-day "introduction" to SUNY-B for the URM students to include visits to classes and laboratories and an overnight in the residence halls. Third, mentoring, supplies and equipment, and tutorial support will be made available at the community colleges for these students. Fourth, a five-week hands-on summer research experience will be sponsored by SUNY-B for twenty URM students and for five community college faculty. Fifth, a special science/survival skills course will be taught at SUNY-B for these students during their first semester of matriculation at SUNYB. This course will also ensure that the students avail themselves of the services provided through three grant supported programs currently in place on campus: the Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP), the College Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP), and the Ronald McNair Program.